Connells Group has announced its acquisition of an independent Cambridgeshire agency - and it says...

Share to Friend

Friend Name

Friend Email

Message

An independent estate agency says a No Deal Brexit will prompt a “feeding frenzy” of foreign buyers who are already “piling in” to bulk-buy in London.

James Pendleton says property values in the capital have been falling for well over a year but demand from foreign investors buying in bulk is stronger than ever.

Founder director Lee Pendleton says foreign buyers are continuing to benefit from currency devaluations since the EU Referendum in July 2016 and are also taking advantage of a softening in the attitude of developers to discounting.

He adds that a no-deal Brexit would only serve to spark a more intense “feeding frenzy” as these large players “pile in” to take further advantage of further weakness in the value of the pound.

As Pendleton was making the claims the actions of Boris Johnson in suspending Parliament next month sent the Pound on yet another downward spiral: £1 is now worth €1.10 and $1.22.

The agency is currently handling the purchase of 75 units in south-west London as part of a single transaction worth in excess of £40m.

Pendleton says that combined with a currency dividend, if these investors can get a 25 per centdiscount from a developer, they can be looking at the equivalent of a 40 per cent discount on value overall.

However, Pendleton warns there is still very little demand for anything over £1,500 per sq ft — with bulk buyers favouring anything under £800 per sq ft.

James Pendleton calculates it is the first independent agent to launch an investment advisory service for institutional and bulk investors.

Lee Pendleton adds: “Anyone who thinks foreign investors and funds have beat a retreat from London are mistaken. The only people who have backed away are UK investors. Developers can see the market has softened and they are willing to give bigger discounts than at any point in the past 10 years.

“As a result, there are a lot of big overseas funds and investors looking for freehold buildings that have a mix of commercial and residential in them.

“They are hoovering up dozens of homes at a time and their behaviour clearly indicates to us that the bottom of the London market is at hand. The prospect of a no-deal Brexit is a concern to some but, in reality, it would only spark a feeding frenzy among these large players who will pile in as the pound falls.

“This is the perfect time to launch our new department, which will cater to patient investors who believe London property at current prices will pay huge dividends over the long term and are so confident in that belief that they are committing vast sums of money. “

Share this article

Subscribe to comments

Share to Friend

Aux armes citoyens! Formez vos bataillons.
No foreign buyer in their right mind is going to go on a spending spree in London until they have more than a rough idea where all this is going to pan out. I'm betting on membership of EEA within 6 months after a general election in which Labour, the Lib Dems and the Scot Nats hold significantly larger numbers of MPs together than the Cons. Out of EU but sensibly in an organisation where we have access to the single market but are not beholden to the ECJ and can still make our own trade deals. A sensible British compromise the art of which we seem to have lost just now.

You sound like a Remainiac, perpetually in dreamland. Wake up and smell the coffee. We're leaving the EU. There will be a general election. Labour will be slaughtered. Conservatives will wipe the floor with them, and Marxist IRA sympathiser Corbyn the moron will skulk away to his shabby home and never be heard from again.

Think you may be wrong there Jeremy Corbyn is being lambasted in the Polls and I seriously can't imagine a more limp wristed anti patriotic anti demorcratic leader and as for the SNP with their anti English sentiments who think were mad to leave the EU because of loss of jobs etc etc but their sole purpose for existing is to leave their biggest trading partner (the rest of the UK) breathtaking hypocrisy springs to mind. As for the Lib Dems nothing against them but a bit too wishy washy for my palete there so weak I doubt they could negotiate a good deal at the January sales!
I think you will find that the average detached british voter has been waiting decades for a strong leader who does what he says he is going to do and for once implements the will of the people instead of somehow pretending they are these inferior beings who don't know what they are doing and we shall vote again and again until they give us the answers were want - I for one am sick of being patronised by people who have no knowledge of business and real life. ( I mean seriously who enters a negotiation and takes away the right to walk away without a deal - they would be like turkeys at Christmas and the EU would be salivating across the table as they sharpen there knives).
Still hopefully when there constituients kick them out after the general election for not helping impose the will of the people send them to my office with there payoffs because with there ...ahem ...acumen for negotiating I should be able to retire 10 years early.
Cometh the hour cometh the man.

Connect With Us

In order to progress your enquiry we need to know which method(s) of contact you would like to be used - email only, or email and phone. Please enter the details you would like to be contacted on regarding your enquiry and then submit your enquiry.

6+24=

By submitting your enquiry you agree to the contact details entered in this form being used to contact you regarding your enquiry and that you have read and accepted our Terms and Conditions. Please see our Privacy Policy for information regarding the processing of your data.